← Home
4 panes
Israel from Seir to Kadesh-barnea

These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel aacross the Jordan in the wilderness, in the bArabah opposite 1Suph, between Paran and Tophel and Laban and Hazeroth and Dizahab. It is eleven days’ journey from aHoreb by the way of Mount bSeir to cKadesh-barnea. Now it happened, in the afortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the children of Israel, baccording to all that 1Yahweh had commanded him to give to them, after he had astruck down Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and bOg the king of Bashan, who lived in cAshtaroth 1and Edrei. Across the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to expound this law, saying,

Yahweh our God aspoke to us at Horeb, saying, ‘You have 1stayed long enough at this mountain. Turn and set out, and go to athe hill country of the Amorites, and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the 1Shephelah and in bthe 2Negev and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. See, I have given over the land before you; go in and possess the land which Yahweh aswore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to them and to their seed after them.’

“And I spoke to you at that time, saying, ‘aI am not able to bear the burden of you alone. 10 Yahweh your God has amultiplied you, and behold, you are this day like the stars of heaven in number. 11 May Yahweh, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand-fold more than you are and bless you, ajust as He has 1promised you! 12 How can I alone bear the load and burden of you and your strife? 13 1aChoose wise and understanding and experienced men from your tribes, and I will appoint them as your heads.’ 14 Then you answered me and said, ‘The thing which you have said to do is good.’ 15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and gave them as heads over you, leaders of thousands and 1of hundreds, 2of fifties and 3of tens, and officers for your tribes.

16 “Then I commanded your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the cases between your brothers, and ajudge righteously between a man and his brother or the sojourner who is with him. 17 aYou shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall bnot fear 1man, for the judgment is God’s. cThe case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’ 18 aAnd I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do.

19 “Then we set out from aHoreb and went through all that bgreat and fearsome wilderness which you saw on the way to the chill country of the Amorites, just as Yahweh our God had commanded us; and we came to dKadesh-barnea. 20 And I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites which Yahweh our God is about to give us. 21 See, Yahweh your God has given over the land before you; go up, take possession, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. aDo not fear or be dismayed.’

22 aThen all of you came near to me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may search out the land for us and bring back to us word of the way by which we should go up and the cities which we shall enter.’ 23 And the thing was good in my sight, and I took twelve of your men, one man for each tribe. 24 aThen they turned and went up into the hill country and came to the valley of Eshcol and spied it out. 25 Then they took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us; and they brought word back to us and said, ‘It is a good land which Yahweh our God is about to give us.’

26 aYet you were not willing to go up, but brebelled against the 1command of Yahweh your God; 27 and ayou grumbled in your tents and said, ‘Because Yahweh hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to give us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us. 28 Where can we go up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified to heaven. And moreover, we saw athe sons of the Anakim there.”’ 29 Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread, nor fear them. 30 Yahweh your God, who goes before you, will aHimself fight on your behalf, 1just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness where you saw how aYahweh your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, in all the way which you have walked until you came to this place.’ 32 But 1afor all this, you did not believe Yahweh your God, 33 awho goes before you on your way, bto spy out a place for you to encamp, in fire by night and cloud by day, to show you the way in which you should go.

34 “Then Yahweh heard the sound of your words, and He was angry and aswore an oath, saying, 35 aNot one of these men, this evil generation, shall see the good land which I swore to give your fathers, 36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and ato him and to his sons I will give the land on which he has set foot, because he has followed Yahweh fully.’ 37 aYahweh was angry with me also on your account, saying, ‘bNot even you shall enter there. 38 Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, ahe shall enter there; strengthen him, for bhe will cause Israel to inherit it. 39 Moreover, ayour little ones who you said would become plunder, and your sons, who this day have bno knowledge of good or evil, shall enter there, and I will give it to them, and they shall possess it. 40 But as for you, aturn around and set out for the wilderness by the way to the 1Red Sea.’

41 aThen you said to me, ‘We have sinned against Yahweh; we will indeed go up and fight, just as Yahweh our God commanded us.’ And every man of you girded on his weapons of war and regarded it as easy to go up into the hill country. 42 aAnd Yahweh said to me, ‘Say to them, “Do not go up and do not fight—for I am not among you—so that you are not 1defeated before your enemies.”’ 43 So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. Instead ayou rebelled against the 1command of Yahweh and acted presumptuously and went up into the hill country. 44 aAnd the Amorites who 1lived in that hill country came out to meet you and pursued you bas bees do and crushed you from Seir to Hormah. 45 Then you returned and wept before Yahweh; but aYahweh did not listen to your voice nor give ear to you. 46 So you remained in aKadesh many days, according to the days that you remained there.

Israel’s History after the Exodus

These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel aacross the Jordan in the wilderness, in the bArabah opposite 1Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. It is eleven days’ journey from aHoreb by way of Mount bSeir to cKadesh-barnea. In the afortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, bin accordance with everything that the LORD had commanded him to declare to them, after he had 1adefeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and bOg the king of Bashan, who lived in cAshtaroth 2and in Edrei. Across the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this Law, saying,

“The LORD our God aspoke to us at Horeb, saying, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Turn and set out on your journey, and go to athe hill country of the Amorites, and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country, in the lowland, in bthe 1Negev, by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. See, I have placed the land before you; go in and take possession of the land which the LORD aswore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and their 1descendants after them.’

“And I spoke to you at that time, saying, ‘aI am not able to endure you alone. 10 The LORD your God has amultiplied you, and behold, you are this day like the stars of heaven in number. 11 May the LORD, the God of your fathers increase you a thousand times more than you are, and bless you, ajust as He has 1promised you! 12 How can I alone endure the burden and weight of you and your strife? 13 aObtain for yourselves men who are wise, discerning, and informed from your tribes, and I will appoint them as your heads.’ 14 And you answered me and said, ‘The thing which you have said to do is good.’ 15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and informed men, and 1appointed them as heads over you, commanders of thousands, 2hundreds, 3fifties, and 4tens, and officers for your tribes.

16 “Then I ordered your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the cases between your fellow countrymen and ajudge righteously between a person and his fellow countryman, or the stranger who is with him. 17 aYou are not to 1show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You are bnot to be afraid of any person, for the judgment is God’s. cThe case that is too difficult for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’ 18 At that time aI commanded you all the things that you were to do.

19 “Then we set out from aHoreb, and went through all that bgreat and terrible wilderness that you saw on the way to the chill country of the Amorites, just as the LORD our God had commanded us; and we came to dKadesh-barnea. 20 And I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is about to give us. 21 See, the LORD your God has placed the land before you; go up, take possession, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. aDo not fear or be dismayed.’

22 aThen all of you approached me and said, ‘Let us send men ahead of us, so that they may spy out the land for us, and bring back to us word of the way by which we should go up, and the cities which we should enter.’ 23 The 1plan pleased me, and I took twelve of your men, one man for each tribe. 24 Then athey turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol, and spied it out. 25 And they took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us. They also brought us back a report and said, ‘The land that the LORD our God is about to give us is good.’

26 aYet you were unwilling to go up; instead you brebelled against the 1command of the LORD your God; 27 and ayou grumbled in your tents and said, ‘Because the LORD hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to hand us over to the Amorites to destroy us. 28 Where can we go up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, by saying, “The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we saw athe sons of the Anakim there.”’ 29 But I said to you, ‘Do not be terrified, nor fear them. 30 The LORD your God, who goes before you, will aHimself fight for you, 1just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness where you saw how athe LORD your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, on all of the road which you have walked until you came to this place.’ 32 Yet 1ain spite of all this, you did not trust the LORD your God, 33 awho goes before you on your way, bto seek out a place for you to make camp, in the fire by night to show you the way by which you should go, and in the cloud by day.

34 “Then the LORD heard the sound of your words, and He was angry and aswore an oath, saying, 35 aNot one of these men, this evil generation, shall see the good land which I swore to give your fathers, 36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and ato him I will give the land on which he has set foot, and to his sons, because he has followed the LORD fully.’ 37 aThe LORD was angry with me also on your account, saying, ‘bNot even you shall enter there. 38 Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, ashall himself enter there; encourage him, for bhe will give it to Israel as an inheritance. 39 Moreover, ayour little ones who, you said, would become plunder, and your sons, who this day have bno knowledge of good and evil, shall enter there, and I will give it to them and they shall take possession of it. 40 But as for you, aturn around and set out for the wilderness by the way of the 1Red Sea.’

41 aThen you replied to me, ‘We have sinned against the LORD; we ourselves will go up and fight, just as the LORD our God commanded us.’ And every man of you strapped on his weapons of war, and you viewed it as easy to go up into the hill country. 42 aBut the LORD said to me, ‘Say to them, “Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; otherwise you will be 1defeated 2by your enemies.”’ 43 So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. Instead, ayou rebelled against the 1command of the LORD, and acted presumptuously and went up into the hill country. 44 aAnd the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you bas bees do, and they scattered you from Seir to Hormah. 45 Then you returned and wept before the LORD; but the aLORD did not listen to your voice, nor pay attention to you. 46 So you remained at aKadesh for many days, 1the days that you spent there.

Israel’s History after the Exodus

These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel aacross the Jordan in the wilderness, in the bArabah opposite 1Suph, between Paran and Tophel and Laban and Hazeroth and Dizahab. It is eleven days’ journey from aHoreb by the way of Mount bSeir to cKadesh-barnea. In the afortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the children of Israel, baccording to all that the LORD had commanded him to give to them, after he had 1adefeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and bOg the king of Bashan, who lived in cAshtaroth 2and Edrei. Across the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to expound this law, saying,

“The LORD our God aspoke to us at Horeb, saying, ‘You have 1stayed long enough at this mountain. Turn and set your journey, and go to athe hill country of the Amorites, and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland and in bthe 1Negev and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. See, I have placed the land before you; go in and possess the land which the LORD aswore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to them and their 1descendants after them.’

“I spoke to you at that time, saying, ‘aI am not able to bear the burden of you alone. 10 The LORD your God has amultiplied you, and behold, you are this day like the stars of heaven in number. 11 May the LORD, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand-fold more than you are and bless you, ajust as He has 1promised you! 12 How can I alone bear the load and burden of you and your strife? 13 1aChoose wise and discerning and experienced men from your tribes, and I will appoint them as your heads.’ 14 You answered me and said, ‘The thing which you have said to do is good.’ 15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and 1appointed them heads over you, leaders of thousands and 2of hundreds, 3of fifties and 4of tens, and officers for your tribes.

16 “Then I charged your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the cases between your 1fellow countrymen, and ajudge righteously between a man and his 2fellow countryman, or the alien who is with him. 17 aYou shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall bnot fear 1man, for the judgment is God’s. cThe case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’ 18 aI commanded you at that time all the things that you should do.

19 “Then we set out from aHoreb, and went through all that bgreat and terrible wilderness which you saw on the way to the chill country of the Amorites, just as the LORD our God had commanded us; and we came to dKadesh-barnea. 20 I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites which the LORD our God is about to give us. 21 See, the LORD your God has placed the land before you; go up, take possession, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. aDo not fear or be dismayed.’

22 aThen all of you approached me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may search out the land for us, and bring back to us word of the way by which we should go up and the cities which we shall enter.’ 23 The thing pleased me and I took twelve of your men, one man for each tribe. 24 aThey turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the valley of Eshcol and spied it out. 25 Then they took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us; and they brought us back a report and said, ‘It is a good land which the LORD our God is about to give us.’

26 aYet you were not willing to go up, but brebelled against the 1command of the LORD your God; 27 and ayou grumbled in your tents and said, ‘Because the LORD hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us. 28 Where can we go up? Our brethren have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified to heaven. And besides, we saw athe sons of the Anakim there.”’ 29 Then I said to you, ‘Do not be shocked, nor fear them. 30 The LORD your God who goes before you will aHimself fight on your behalf, 1just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness where you saw how athe LORD your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, in all the way which you have walked until you came to this place.’ 32 But 1afor all this, you did not trust the LORD your God, 33 awho goes before you on your way, bto seek out a place for you to encamp, in fire by night and cloud by day, to show you the way in which you should go.

34 “Then the LORD heard the sound of your words, and He was angry and atook an oath, saying, 35 aNot one of these men, this evil generation, shall see the good land which I swore to give your fathers, 36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and ato him and to his sons I will give the land on which he has set foot, because he has followed the LORD fully.’ 37 aThe LORD was angry with me also on your account, saying, ‘bNot even you shall enter there. 38 Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, ahe shall enter there; encourage him, for bhe will cause Israel to inherit it. 39 Moreover, ayour little ones who you said would become a prey, and your sons, who this day have bno knowledge of good or evil, shall enter there, and I will give it to them and they shall possess it. 40 But as for you, aturn around and set out for the wilderness by the way to the 1Red Sea.’

41 aThen you said to me, ‘We have sinned against the LORD; we will indeed go up and fight, just as the LORD our God commanded us.’ And every man of you girded on his weapons of war, and regarded it as easy to go up into the hill country. 42 aAnd the LORD said to me, ‘Say to them, “Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; otherwise you will be 1defeated before your enemies.”’ 43 So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. Instead ayou rebelled against the 1command of the LORD, and acted presumptuously and went up into the hill country. 44 aThe Amorites who 1lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you bas bees do, and crushed you from Seir to Hormah. 45 Then you returned and wept before the LORD; but the aLORD did not listen to your voice nor give ear to you. 46 So you remained in aKadesh many days, 1the days that you spent there.

Israel’s History after the Exodus

These are the words which Moses spoke to all 1Israel while they were still abeyond that is, on the east side of the Jordan River in the wilderness across from Jerusalem, in the bArabah the long, deep valley running north and south from the eastern arm of the Red Sea to beyond the Dead Sea opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel and Laban and Hazeroth and Dizahab (place of gold) . It is only eleven days’ journey from aHoreb (Mount Sinai) by way of Mount bSeir to cKadesh-barnea on Canaan’s border; yet Israel 1wandered in the wilderness for forty years before crossing the border and entering Canaan, the promised land. In the afortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the children of Israel in baccordance with all that the LORD had commanded him to say to them, after he had adefeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and bOg the king of Bashan, who lived at cAshtaroth in Edrei. Beyond (east of) the Jordan in the 1land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying,

“The LORD our God aspoke to us at Horeb, saying, ‘You have stayed long enough on this mountain. Turn and resume your journey, and go to the ahill country of the Amorites, and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland (the Shephelah) , in bthe Negev (South country) and on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. Look, I have set the land before you; go in and take possession of the land which the LORD aswore (solemnly promised) to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their descendants after them.’

“I spoke to you at that time, saying, ‘aI am not able to bear the burden of you alone. 10 The LORD your God has amultiplied you, and look, today you are as numerous as the stars of heaven. 11 May the LORD, the God of your fathers, add to you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, just aas He has promised you! 12 How can I alone bear the weight and pressure and burden of you and your strife (contention) and complaining? 13 aChoose for yourselves wise, understanding, experienced, and respected men from your tribes, and I will appoint them as heads (leaders) over you.’ 14 And you answered me, ‘The thing which you have said to do is good.’ 15 So I took the leaders of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and made them leaders over you, commanders of thousands, and hundreds, and fifties, and tens, and officers (administrators) for your tribes.

16 “Then I commanded your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the matters between your brothers your fellow countrymen, and ajudge righteously and fairly between a man and his brother, or the stranger (resident alien, foreigner) who is with him. 17 aYou shall not 1show partiality in judgment; you shall hear and pay attention to the cases of the least important as well as the great. You shall bnot 2fear man, for the judgment is God’s. cThe case that is too hard for you to judge, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’ 18 aI commanded you at that time regarding all the things that you should do.

19 “Then we set out from aHoreb (Sinai) , and went through all that bgreat and terrible wilderness which you saw on the way to the chill country of the 1Amorites, just as the LORD our God commanded us; and we came to dKadesh-barnea. 20 And I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites which the LORD our God is about to give us. 21 Behold, the LORD your God has set the land before you; go up and take possession of it, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. aDo not fear or be dismayed.’

22 aThen all of you approached me and said, ‘Let us send men into the land before us, so that they may explore and search the area for us, and bring back to us word regarding the way we should go, and the cities we should enter.’ 23 The plan pleased me and I took twelve of your men, one man from each tribe. 24 aThey turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied it out. 25 Then they took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us; and they reported back to us, and said, ‘It is a good land which the LORD our God is about to give us.’

26 aYet you were not willing to go up to take possession of it, but brebelled against the command of the LORD your God. 27 aYou murmured and were ill-tempered (discontented) in your tents, and said, ‘Because the LORD hates us He has brought us from the land of Egypt to hand us over to the Amorites to destroy us. 28 Where can we go up? Our brothers (spies) have made our hearts melt in fear and demoralized us by saying, “The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large, and fortified all the way up to heaven. And besides, we saw athe giant-like sons of the Anakim there.”’ 29 Then I said to you, ‘Do not be shocked, nor fear them. 30 The LORD your God who goes before you will fight for you aHimself, just as He did for you in Egypt before your very eyes, 31 and in the wilderness where you saw how athe LORD your God carried and protected you, just as a man carries his son, all along the way which you traveled until you arrived at this place.’ 32 Yet ain spite of this word, you did not trust that is, confidently rely on and believe the LORD your God, 33 awho went before you along the way, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, bto seek a place for you to make camp and to show you the way in which you should go.

34 “And the LORD heard the sound of your words, and He was angry and atook an oath, saying, 35 aNot one of these men, this evil generation, shall see the good land which I swore (solemnly promised) to give to your fathers, 36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and ato him and to his children I will give the land on which he has walked, because he has followed the LORD completely and remained true to Him.’ 37 aThe LORD was angry with me also because of you, saying, ‘bNot even you shall enter Canaan. 38 Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, ahe shall enter there. Encourage and strengthen him, for bhe shall cause Israel to inherit it. 39 Moreover, ayour little ones whom you said would become prey, and your sons, who today have bno knowledge of good or evil, shall enter Canaan, and I will give it to them and they shall possess it. 40 But as for you, aturn around and set out for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds) .’

41 aThen you answered and said to me, ‘We have sinned against the LORD. We will go up and fight, just as the LORD our God has commanded us.’ So you 1equipped every man with weapons of war, and regarded it as easy to go up into the hill country. 42 aBut the LORD said to me, ‘Say to them, “Do not go up and do not fight, for I am not among you because of your rebellion; otherwise you will be badly defeated by your enemies.”’ 43 So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. Instead ayou rebelled against the command of the LORD, and acted presumptuously and went up into the hill country. 44 Then athe Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you bas bees do, and struck you down in Seir as far as Hormah. 45 And you returned and wept before the LORD; but the aLORD would not listen to your voice nor pay attention to you. 46 So you stayed in aKadesh; many days you stayed there.

Ask